This invention relates to improvements in skiing equipment, and, particularly, to an improved type of boot-binding configuration which enables a skier to attach the ski to his foot without requiring the use of special, typically rigid and heavy ski boots used in downhill skiing. The present invention relates to an arrangement by which the requirement for the heavy rigid ski boots is omitted and also provides a device which may be used with equal facility in downhill skiing as well as in cross-country skiing. In this regard, cross-country skiing typically requires a very different type of boot than downhill skiing, in that the cross-country boot must be very flexible and non-rigid. Thus, it is among the general objects of the present invention to provide an arrangement which may be used either for downhill or for cross-country skiing.
In brief, the device includes a foot-receptive framework which is detachably connected to the ski bindings. The framework carries inflatable (and deflatable) pads or chocks on its interior which expand against the user's foot to secure it in place. The chocks are maintained in a foot-engaging inflated condition by a bellows which is located within the framework and which is actuated in response to movement and forces of the skier's foot to feed fluid under pressure to the chocks and maintain the rigid condition. The device includes pressure relief valving arrangements interposed between the bellows or pump and the chocks to regulate the pressure of the pressure of the chocks.
It also is among the general objects of the invention to provide an improved device for securing a ski to a skier's foot.
A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the type described which does not require the use of the typical heavy and rigid ski boots which have heretofore been employed.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the clamping force of the device on the skier's foot may be varied so as to be suitable for downhill skiing or for cross-country skiing.